BESSEMER, Ala. (WBRC) – High-speed internet is making its way across the state of Alabama, and the city of Bessemer is getting in on the action – free of charge.
The city council voted Tuesday to allow Alabama Fiber Network to run fiber-optic cable through several Bessemer locations that are being called “Community Anchor Institutions” (CAI).
These CAIs include:
- Bessemer City Hall
- Bessemer Fire Administrative Building
- Bessemer fire stations 1, 2, and 4
- Bessemer Police Department
- Bessemer Civic Center
The laying of the cables will come at no cost to the city. It will be funded by grant money allocated by Governor Kay Ivey from the American Rescue Plan Funds to improve internet connections across the state.
Once the cables are installed, it will be up to the city to activate them and pay for the internet.
“I think COVID let all of us know that there was a need for something of this nature,” said Bessemer Mayor Kenneth Gulley.
He recalls that some students in the Bessemer school system had a difficult time during the COVID pandemic completing schoolwork and attending classes online from home due to poor internet speeds in some parts of the city.
Gulley is hopeful that once fiber-optic cable is in place for critical infrastructure of the city, that same high-speed internet access can be expanded to others living and working in Bessemer.
”Initially, what we ran into during COVID, there was just no fiber optics line and stuff close, so we couldn’t do that,” he said. “So I’m just glad to see that the state would make an initiative like that, and see what it will yield for the benefit of the citizens of Bessemer.”
Work to install the fiber-optic cable in Bessemer is expected to be finished in the early months of 2026. The entire statewide project is slated to be done in the same year.
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